Vigilante | ✔

Annual #1

A loud sneeze called the attention of a couple of people passing by to the surly looking redhead making his way down the street. A bag from the grocery store was gripped in his gloved hand while a scowl was partially covered by a thick knit scarf. The young man's brown eyes were set in a glare as he rubbed his redenned nose with his free hand.

Even the warmth of his apartment did little to better Eli's mood, though the pain in his leg dulled considerably. He was still muttering about absurdly long lines at the store as he removed his coat by the apartment's entrance.

"Did you remember to get the ice cream?" was the first thing his most recently acquired roommate asked Eli from his seat in the kitchen where he was untangling yet another length of garland (which Eli didn't know where they would put because the whole apartment already looked like Christmas had puked on it). In response, the redhead set down the heavy bag of groceries on top of the table with a loud THUD.

"Who the hell eats ice cream in the middle of the freaking winter you damn weirdo?" Eli asked with a scowl. He wasn't surprised when the dark haired man sitting at the table just grinned. Neither was he surprised by the sudden desire he felt to flip over the table.

"When is it not okay to eat ice cream?" Matthew asked, digging into the bag and taking out said ice cream — rocky road, he was glad to note. "Besides, you still had to go out for milk and eggs," Matthew pointed out, starting to open the tub of ice cream.

Eli wasted no time in snatching it away and practically tossing it into the freezer. The pout Matthew showed him did nothing to make him feel guilty, mostly because the man was too old for that to work. Most of the time.

"Well if you hadn't broken your stupid leg on your seriously demented pursuit of justice," Eli started, the last words absolutely dripping with sarcasm, "You might have been able to go out and get them yourself!" Eli pointed out.

"But I did, and I couldn't and now I'm glad I have such a nice and caring person like you around to help," Matthew said. He smiled widely, blue-grey eyes shining with glee. Eli wanted to punch him.

Unfortunately, the man was actually injured. Instead, Eli opted to throw his arms up in a show of the utter frustration he felt before he slammed the fridge door shut and stomped out of the kitchen. His cat, Matt, was lounging lazily on the back of the couch when Eli walked into the living room of the apartment he shared with Matthew. With a huff, Eli fell back onto the piece of furniture, ignoring the indignant look his cat threw him at being disturbed.

It had been a couple of months since Matthew had returned from the seemingly dead — which was something Eli never pictured happening in his life. They hadn't wasted much time in moving into a new place together — because when you find out the person you have feelings for isn't really as dead as you thought, putting much thought into the little things in life seems a bit stupid. They'd decided that Eli's place was too small and, well, Matthew didn't really have a permanent residence since he'd been playing dead.

Since then they had more or less settled on a routine.

Eli would get up, do his best to not wake Matthew as he got out of bed, and head out to begin his day. He didn't bother making breakfast for Matthew because they both knew he was a terrible cook. Eli would work, go to school and most of the time, Matthew would be there to accompany him back home. If Matthew weren't so damn annoying, Eli would have thought it was sweet.

Matthew would stay home and work while Eli was out, something that Eli supposed was the most reasonable aspect about his newly acquired lover. Because everything else about Matthew was ridiculous.